His parents Alistair Walker, 27, and Hannah Henry, 21, both deny manslaughter, neglect of a child and causing a child's death

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The injury to the brain sustained by little Ah’Kiell Walker, caused by a lack of either oxygen or blood, was so severe that the baby boy had no chance of survival, a jury was told.

And the injury was so great that the three-month-old’s behaviour would have changed significantly from the moment that the injury was suffered, Bristol Crown Court heard from Dr Neil Stoodley, a consultant neuro-radiologist from Bristol.

He has been giving evidence this morning in the trial of Ah'Kiell's parents Alistair Walker, 27, and Hannah Henry, 21. They are accused of manslaughter, child neglect and allowing a child to be neglected. They both deny the charges.

Ah'Kiell died last July after emergency services were called to the family home in Archdeacon Street, Gloucester.

Hannah Henry

Dr Stoodley had studied the brain scans taken of Ah’Kiell when he was treated at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, and he said: “Whatever caused the injury must have occurred after the last time Ah’Kiell was established to be behaving normally. Nothing in his previous medical injury suggests a reason for his collapse.

“There is no way Ah’Kiell cold have survived this brain injury.”

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Ah'Kiell Walker case so far

Cross examined by Fiona Elder, who acts for Henry, Dr Stoodley said he couldn’t exclude the possibility that the injury was caused by a series of more minor events over a period of time rather than one major event.

Responding to questions by Jemi Akim-Olugbade, who represents Walker, Dr Stoodley said he saw no evidence of sub-dural bleeding in the brain in Ah’Kiell’s scans and said that such bleeding was typically seen after babies were shaken as well as the type of injury suffered by Ah’Kiell.

The defending barrister asked whether the injury to Ah’Kiell’s brain could have been caused by a pressure build-up in his head during reventilation attempts as part of resuscitation efforts.

Dr Stoodley said: “I don’t think it could have contributed to what I saw in the scan.”

Dr George Rylance, a recently returned consultant paediatrician, was questioned by prosecuting counsel Rosaleen Collins about Ah’Kiell’s general condition and the injuries seen at postmortem.

He said the boy had been born in very good condition and that he saw no medical or congenital reason for his injuries.

When asked about the broken ribs Ah’Kiell had suffered some time before his death he said: “He couldn’t have done it himself. Either a traumatic event caused it or another person was responsible for the fractures.”

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He explained squeezing or bending a baby’s back, possibly through back and forth motion, could be common reasons for breaking posterior ribs, and that it would need considerable force.

“Lifting a baby, or even throwing them up in the air a tiny distance wouldn’t cause rib fractures. Even rough treatment, as you sometimes get form young siblings of babies doesn’t often cause rib fractures,” he said.

The doctor added the force necessary to cause the fracture of the shoulder Ah’Kiell suffered would either have been a memorable event, if it was accidental, or “somebody was responsible for inflicting that force".

Cross-examined by Ms Elder Dr Rylance agreed that if a carer of a baby hadn’t been present when its ribs or shoulder had been broken they could well not see the child’s behaviour as being different from “a normal grizzling baby".

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Mr Akim-Olugbade suggested to Dr Rylance that CPR on a baby could cause its head and neck to move back and forth.

He also asked whether reventilation using a bag would cause an increase of pressure in the head – but Dr Rylance said no.

In response to questioning the expert witness said it was not common to see shaken babies with retinal bleeding inside the eyes without subdural bleeding in the brain, as was seen in Ah’Kiell but that it was possible.

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Walker’s defence counsel suggested that the fractures to Ah’Kiell’s ribs may have been caused at birth – and that the refracture of one of his ribs seen at postmortem could have occurred in the normal course of dressing and changing.